


hollow

by worstgirl



Series: strangers - trash boat [6]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Oops, best friend banter, fun times, jeremy just needs his best friend, jeremy’s mom isn’t too bad but she still not good, platonic boyf riends - Freeform, quickly turns to angst, starts out as fluff, until it all goes to hell, weird al concerts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-29 00:11:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worstgirl/pseuds/worstgirl
Summary: Moonlight- Jeremy grinning in the hollow tree outside Michael’s window, his feet swinging on a cool fall night when he had snuck out just to talk to Michael~~~“Jer? What’re you doin’ here? It’s three in the morning, you dork!”“I couldn’t sleep!”





	hollow

_ Moonlight- Jeremy grinning in the hollow tree outside Michael’s window, his feet swinging on a cool fall night when he had snuck out just to talk to Michael _

 

_ ~~~ _

 

Jeremy’s palms stung from the effort of pulling himself up into the canopy of criss-crossing branches above him, but he managed to sit on the branch outside of his best friend’s window. Luckily, there were very few leaves obscuring his view of Michael’s bedroom, and he saw the other boy, sitting on his computer, playing some online computer game that included lots of guns. He gave a small grin, leaning forward to tap on the glass. 

 

It took a few more taps to get Michael’s attention from where he sat, one side of his familiar headphones over his ear, back to the window. When he finally heard the tappings, he pulled them all the way off, turning in his chair. Jeremy grinned when he saw the other’s mess of hair, flopping over his eyes and dark glasses frames. Michael’s eyes widened when he saw Jeremy, jumping to his feet.

 

“Jer? What’re you doin’ here?” Michael asked, throwing open his window and leaning on the sill. “It’s-“ He glanced at the clock, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. “It’s three in the morning, you dork.”

 

“I couldn’t sleep!” Jeremy said, quietly. He didn’t want to wake Michael’s parents. He technically wasn’t supposed to be here. “Besides, you were up!”

 

“That’s besides the point!” Michael protested. “Dude, why are you here, seriously?”

 

“I got lonely and wanted to talk to you.” Jeremy said stubbornly.

 

Michael snorted. “Awww, poor Jerbear was all alone, so he needed a friend to talk to? Why didn’t you just text me?” 

 

Jeremy’s grin slipped a little. “My phone, uh, got taken away by my mom.” He said with a shrug. “I was, uh, wondering if I could stay here tonight?” His voice sounded quiet and awkward, and he took a hand off the branch to rub the back of his neck. Michael didn’t seem to like that. 

 

“Yeah, dude, get out of that tree. It’s hollow, anyways, I’m pretty sure that means it’s really fragile or something-“ He held out a hand, and Jeremy took it, jumping slightly off the tree, only momentarily afraid of falling. Once he was in the room, though, his foot slightly scrabbling on the sill, he was afraid. 

 

“I just jumped into your window oh my god-“ Michael just rolled his eyes, pulling the lanky boy into his bedroom. 

 

“C’mon, man, you’re thirteen, not three. You can deal with jumping into someone’s window.” He gave the other a wide grin, going on his tiptoes, ruffling his curls. 

 

“Shortie-“ Jeremy teased, his nose wrinkling, making some of his freckles disappear into the creases.

 

“I am not short, I’m gonna hit my growth spurt, just you wait!” Michael folded his arms, a bit like a small child. “Oh, hey! Jer, I was gonna ask you earlier, but I forgot to- wanna go to a Weird Al concert tomorrow? My parents got tickets, and they got an extra for you!”

 

Jeremy felt his grin widen. “Dude, that sounds great!” He said, sitting on Michael’s bed. “Do you, uh, mind if I stay here for the night? I’m…” He hesitated, looking down, embarrassed. 

 

Michael knew what he meant- they’d been friends since they were four, after all. “Yeah, you can stick around. I’ll leave my computer on so it’s not super dark in here.” Jeremy gave him a small sheepish grin. He’d always felt awkward, being a 13 year old afraid of the dark, but Michael never made fun of him for it.

 

“Thanks, Michael.” Jeremy flopped back on Michael’s bed, looking over at the other boy. “Also, Albuquerque is the best song of Weird Al’s and you can fight me on this.” 

 

“What?” Michael looked aghast. “No it isn’t, it’s obviously the one to American Pie! The Star Wars one!” 

 

“You can  _ not  _ say the Saga Begins is the best Weird Al song, you dork!” Jeremy laughed. “God, you’re a nerd!” 

 

“Says the one who fangirled as soon as he saw that there was going to be a third Men In Black movie-“

 

“Shut up, doofus, MIB is great!” Jeremy shushed him by hitting him with a pillow, straight to the face. Michael laughed in surprise before throwing it back at him. A pillow fight ensued, which Jeremy insisted he won.

 

The two boys soon fell asleep, Michael shoving Jeremy onto the floor, then only ‘reluctantly’ sharing the bed. The next morning, the Mell parents were remarkably unsurprised to see their son’s best friend curled up in bed with him.

 

That day was one of Jeremy’s best, before it all came crashing down in a ball of flames, like the rest of his life. They were heading home, going to drop off Jeremy, when Jeremy noticed something. His dad was sitting on their front step, in only an undershirt, boxers, and a robe, head in his hands. Jeremy got out of the car, smile slipping. “Dad?” He asked. He knew he sounded worried, but he didn’t care at this moment. 

 

His father looked up, obviously upset. “Jeremiah, where were you? I was worried sick.” His voice sounded flat, emotionless, like he was too tired to get actual words out. 

 

“I-I’m sorry, I j-just- I went to Michael’s, and I forgot to call, and M-Mom-“ Then he bit his lip, stepping back from his dad. Something hit him, something was wrong. The car wasn’t there. His dad’s gold Prius was there, but not his mom’s car. “Wh-Where’s Mom?” 

 

Mr. Heere looked up at Jeremy. “She’s gone, Jeremy. And she’s not coming back.” 

 

Jeremy’s heart stopped. How could this have happened? All remnants of his good mood were gone, all happiness had dissipated. “Wh-What?” He choked out, feeling tears in his eyes. Sure, she hadn’t been the best mom, by any stretch. She had been a little too lax with alcohol, and wasn’t above ridicule and insults, but she was still his mom. She still was the one who bandaged up his many scrapes when he was younger, and she used to bring him to school every day and make him lunches, and she used to make dinner for them- and now she was gone. 

 

“She’s gone.” His dad repeated. Jeremy shook his head, backing away. This couldn’t be possible. 

 

It was only later that he learned the full story. His parents had woken up to find him missing, after him and the Mell’s had already left. His dad was frantic, looking for Jeremy, but his mom didn’t seem to care. They got into another argument, like the ones that made Jeremy cry silently in his room at night, and his dad told her to leave. And leave she did, packing up her things and driving away. 

 

Before then, however, he turned around, running back to the car and getting back in. “I-I don’t want to go h-home, my dad said it w-was okay if I stayed with M-Michael more.” He said, voice shaking. His stutter, which he’d mostly gotten control over, had come back full force, the way it did when he was nervous. Michael’s mom looked concerned, but she drove back to their house after a glance back at Jeremy. 

 

Michael’s hand reached out, taking Jeremy’s across the backseat. Jeremy was shaking, feeling empty, like the tree he climbed to get to Michael’s window. Everything felt hollow, like he’d gotten scooped out of everything, like his heart and emotions and memories had all decayed with those words. They got to the Mell’s house, and through a haze he heard Michael speak. “We’ll be in my room, okay?” 

 

Jeremy followed Michael’s hand, still linked with his, until they were inside his room. Finally, as soon as the door closed, Jeremy let out a tiny choked noise. Michael squeezed his hand. “Breathe, Jer, what happened?” He asked, sounding concerned.

 

“Sh-Sh-She’s gone.” Jeremy said, wrapping his arms around himself. Immediately, Michael knew what he was talking about. How could he not? He was the one Jeremy always texted when his parents argued, he was the one place Jeremy could always go. 

 

He led Jeremy over to the bed, sitting down and pulling Jeremy down next to him. He wrapped the pale boy in his arms, trying to soothe him. Jeremy nearly fell into Michael, sobbing and crying. He could just barely feel the other’s hand rubbing his back as he cried, but he couldn’t bring himself to mention it, or even think about it. “M-M-Michael-“

 

“Jer, don’t worry about it, just try to breathe, okay?” Michael murmured into Jeremy’s hair, something sounding broken in his voice. But Jeremy had to force these words out.

 

“P-Promise me y-you’ll never l-l-leave.” He said, clutching at the other’s shirt. His breath was ragged, catching in his throat, as if his lungs suddenly decided to stop working. “P-Promise me I’ll n-n-never have to watch you leave, I’ll n-never have to l-live without you.” He sobbed, not looking up at Michael.

 

Michael reached out, pulling away. “Jer, I’m not going to leave you. There won’t be a second where I’m not by your side, I promise.” He murmured, wiping Jeremy’s tears. Then he looked at his desk, where he’d set the two Weird Al tickets. “I’d never leave you, man.” He gave Jeremy a small smile. 

 

“P-Pinky promise?” Jeremy asked, holding out one shaking hand, pinky finger extended. A small, sad smile was on his face, and Michael couldn’t help but chuckle at his best friend’s childishness. 

 

“Pinky promise.” They linked fingers, and Jeremy felt slightly less empty, a little less hollow. As long as Michael was there, he could do anything. He reached out, pulling Michael into a tight hug, burying his face in his shoulder. 

 

“Y-You’re my f-favourite person, you kn-know that?” He said, slightly muffled by the fabric of Michael’s shirt. 

 

Jeremy could hear the amusement in Michael’s voice, and he felt a hand ruffle his hair. “Yeah, I know, you dork.” Jeremy let out a watery laugh. He could worry about absentee mothers and emotionless fathers later. For now, he was with Michael, and Michael would never leave him. He was okay, for the time being. The hollowness would pass, and he would feel whole again, as long as Michael was there.

**Author's Note:**

> so,, hope you enjoyed that flangst! (a word my one friend uses way too much.) but anyways,, this series is going to get a lot worse. Like a lot worse. Actually, not sure how it could get worse, but anyways.
> 
> see you next post, loves!! 
> 
> just a note: comments give me literal life. i legitimately fangirl at every one of them. i appreciate all of you, even if you don’t comment!! <3


End file.
